In a large network comprising a plurality of concentration nodes each serving a number of subtending nodes, the case arises in which the capacity of a concentration node may become strained as a result of having to serve an excessive number of subtending nodes. For example, the capacity of a central post office (concentration node) that is located in a growth region may initially be adequate to serve an appreciable number of local post offices (subtending nodes). However, it can appreciated that as the population of the region increases, then the volume of mail that is processed by the central post office will also increase, which may possibly strain the processing capacity of the central post office. In addition, such growth may lead to establishing additional local post offices in the region, each homing in on the central post office, thereby further straining the processing capacity of the central post office.
A like situation may occur in connection with a communications network, in which a so-called toll switch (concentration node) serves a number of local switching offices (subtending nodes). Similarly, the number of telephone calls that the toll switch processes will most likely increase as the population of the region served by the toll switch increases. Moreover, customer demand for new telephone services and the establishment of additional local switching offices each homing in on (connecting to) the toll switch may place an inordinate strain on the processing capacity of the toll switch.
In such situations, a concentration node could fail if its capacity to process traffic (e.g., mail, telephone calls, etc) is virtually exhausted. To prevent such a failure, the capacity problem is typically alleviated by rehoming (reassigning) one or more subtending nodes to one or more other concentration nodes. However, the task of identifying which subtending nodes would be the best candidates for rehoming is not a trivial task. For example, at first glance, it would appear that a subtending node which is the source of a high level of traffic would be a prime candidate for rehoming to another concentration node. However, a large portion of such traffic could be so-called intraoffice traffic, meaning that such traffic flows between subtending nodes located within the same region and, therefore, would still be processed by the concentration node serving that region. Accordingly, rehoming to another concentration node a subtending node that is a source of high level of intraoffice traffic could prove to be ineffective and costly.
In addition, the planning of such rehoming or other changes in the architecture of a network is mostly a manual procedure, which not only consumes an inordinate amount of time, but is also costly.